We began today with our first in-class Art History lecture since the day Lisa went over the syllabus. As our excursion to Florence starts on Wednesday, Lisa gave us an introduction to Florence and the Renaissance in the Honors seminar room of the Rome Center. There is so much to talk about concerning Florence and the Renaissance that we went a half hour past the scheduled time slot and even then there were still topics we didn't cover. We learned that the shift towards the Renaissance began with the black plague that wiped out two thirds of Europe's population. As all of the wealth was then spread to one-third the number of people, there was plenty of money to be invested in the arts as a demonstration of that wealth and power. We focused on the shifts in art that accompanied the Italian Renaissance and learned about numerous artists including Masaccio, Donatello, Brunelleschi, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Michelangelo. It was truly fascinating to learn about how the Renaissance was characterized by a shift towards more realistic depictions of people and three-dimensional perspectives, and how there was a resurgence of bronze casting. The class concluded with a description of shopping in Florence and suggestions from Lisa's experiences on how to approach it.
Florence here we come!
The day concluded with an afternoon Italian session with Fede. We learned about the foods of Italy and how to properly place your order in an Italian restaurant. Mick gave us all a good dash of entertainment when he was selected to be the class waiter and went around taking all of our orders. I was particularly angry that his menu did not have pizza, and decided to drown my sorrows with an order of Disarrono (The world's greatest Italian liquor). Although it was great learning more about food and the ordering process, it was somewhat brutal with our growling midday stomachs.
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